


Digimon: Tenkatouitsu/天下統一

by tsukumookami



Category: Digimon - All Media Types
Genre: Character Development, F/M, Gen, Japanese
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22288987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsukumookami/pseuds/tsukumookami
Summary: An original Digimon story with a Japanese-theme twist.March 21, 2020. Tokyo, Japan. The ordinary lives of 7 individuals change when they get dragged into a world full of monster and creatures they've never seen before.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	1. 平穏にさらば/Farewell Peaceful Days

March 21st, 2020. 11:34AM. A sunny Sunday with warm sunlight and a light breeze. The streets of Shibuya bustles with people of all ages, each person brushing shoulders yet giving no care in the world. Shopping, catching a movie, chilling at a cafe; it’s a perfect day to go out.

It’s no different for Makoto, her long silver hair swishing side to side as she waltzes down the street. She hums an upbeat tune with a small grin and glances behind her. Following the silver-haired girl is a boy with short, fluffy hair of the same color and an affectionate smile.

“Mako, slow down. The cafe isn’t going anywhere,” he chuckles, keeping up with the girl.

“But Kou-kun, it’s been  _ forever _ since we’ve been able to go out together!” Makoto halts and turns around, her grin spreading.

She then pouts playfully, puffing her cheeks and looking away from her cousin.

“I actually finished editing my videos for next week! And how often does  _ that _ happen?”

Seeing a 23 year old pout would be something questionable, but Kouki can’t help letting his smile grow a bit. It’s true. He hasn’t been able to go out with his cousin in a while, especially since she started pursuing her dreams as a content creator. He sees her everyday because they live together, but going out would only happen at rare chance. 

“...Once in a blue moon.” He brings his hand to his mouth and takes a moment to seem like he is contemplating before giving her an answer.

“Pfft, me trying to act cute gives me goosebumps. Also yes, once in a blue moon.” The young woman bursts out laughing, rubbing her arm with her hand. “So we have to make sure we spend as much time as we can outside together. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kouki huffs with a grin.

\-----------------------------------------------

“Nnnn where’s Dawn’s new album...” A boy with neat, brown hair squints his red eyes as he mutters under his breath.

It’s one of his few days off of his duties as a medical student, and Arata is extremely determined to get his hands on this CD. Determined enough to drag his exhausted body all the way to Shibuya’s CD shop. He doesn’t know when he can go out and buy the album if he misses his chance today. Today’s the only day he can get it. He looks down at his phone after the 30th time and notices an unfamiliar app. He stares with frustration at it, not sure where the frustration is coming from: is it from this app he doesn’t even remember downloading? Or is it from the fact that he just can’t find his favorite producer’s album?

A girl with short, light blue hair overhears Arata’s frustrated mumble.  _ Oh man, I feel you, dude… _ She regards the boy with sympathy and approaches him.

“Hey, Dawn’s newest album’s in that area.” Ruri points to the shelf down the aisle.

“Ah!?” Arata jumps at the sudden interruption, looks wildly at the girl, then bows swiftly. “O-oh, thank you!”

A little flustered, he scurries to the shelf in question whilst bowing a couple of more times at Ruri. She waves with a chuckle, feeling a little bad for startling the poor guy. Out of habit, she takes her phone out and goes to open her social media app, only to be greeted by a pretty app. Certainly pretty, but nothing she remembers.

“Huh, that’s weird...” Ruri mumbles, but she carries on for now. She’s here to buy CDs. That app can wait until later.

\-----------------------------------------------

In a quiet corner of a small cafe near the campus of Tokyo University, a man in his late 20s and a young lady in her early 20s sit and chat away.

“Shu-chan, you seem less thin than the last time I saw you. Have you been eating more these days?” Aya asks.

“Yeah. I make sure to eat whenever I can,” Shuhei replies bluntly.

“Good!” The girl beams, clapping her hands together. She tucks her pink hair behind her ears and continues. “You can’t do good work if you don’t eat.”

“You should speak for yourself.” The man narrows his eyes at her.

“What? I eat.”

Shuhei continues to glare at Aya, to which she puts her hands up in mock surrender.

“Hey, I actually have people who feed me. And it’s good home cooked food.” She clasps her hands together again and looks up at the air above her dreamily. Oh my gosh, that omurice on Thursday was so cheesy and fluffy…

“And what do you eat when you can’t go to your friend’s place?” Either his glasses or his grey eyes glint.

“Uhhh, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Aya looks anywhere but at Shuhei, twirling her hair.

The man just closes his eyes and sighs as he shakes his head.

\-----------------------------------------------

“For the love of god, why the hell did I have to stay up all night on a Saturday of all days. I still have papers to grade, emails to answer… ” Fumika drags her feet outside the Tokyo University Campus, her green eyes dull despite the bright light outside.

“Ugh, I just want to spend time with my niece! Give her presents! Make her look cute! Is that too much to ask?” She yanks her hair tie out and lets her long, violet locks loose with another exasperated sigh. 

She turns on her phone and sees a weirdly aesthetic app. Her nose wrinkles as scowl intensifies. Is she seeing things because she hasn’t slept? Probably. Oh, she’s definitely going home. She needs sleep more than anything right now. She heads to her apartment, a small cafe coming into view. Tempting, but not now.

\-----------------------------------------------

A few minutes later near the CD shop in Shibuya, Makoto takes a second to look at her phone, only to realize something odd. A white and pink app with a design of the ume flower in the middle is lined up with her other apps. She halts and furrows her brows.

“What’s wrong?” Kouki asks, stopping in his tracks behind her.

Makoto turns around and shows her screen to him, her expression still the same. “...What do you think this app is? It just randomly appeared all of a sudden. I never downloaded this.”

Kouki stares at the icon for a while, then takes his phone out to look the app up. However, next to the browser app, the same exact ume flower app sits. 

“Hm, looks like it’s the same with me.” He raises his brows, but continues to search for information on the app, with no luck. “And there’s literally  _ nothing _ about this app online.”

There’s a weird sensation. A yearning. As if someone is calling for them. The more they stare at the app, the stronger that feeling pull at their hearts. Yellow eyes meet gold ones.

“...Kou-kun, you feel that too, right?”

“...Yeah.”

Makoto looks down at her phone again. “I’m going to click on it.”

She glances up at Kouki, to which he nods his approval, and taps the ume flower icon.

\-----------------------------------------------

“Here’s a new design I’m working on right now--” Shuhei swipes his phone open and notices an app he’s never seen before, and to be exact, it wasn’t there when he checked a few minutes ago. Odd. But the design on it is somewhat simple and intriguing.

“Oh, that’s a cute-looking app! What’s it for?” Aya tilts her head and points to it.

“I… don’t know. I never downloaded it.” The man’s lips curl.

Stupid thing. Whatever it is, he doesn’t like the fact that the app is just in his phone without his knowing or permission.

“Huh, let’s see if I can find it on my--” Aya starts, opening her phone as well but cutting herself off with wide eyes. “Oookay, I have that too. That’s really weird.”

_ Hm. So Aya has it too? This is very odd. And extremely annoying. It’s even worse since the design isn’t too bad. I wonder who designed it. _ Shuhei is lost in his own thoughts, while Aya stares hard at the app. 

Her heart lurches towards it. *Come*, it seems to be screaming at her. Despite how suspicious the app seems, she feels the need to check. She *needs* to click on it.

“Hey, Shu-chan. What do you think will happen if I try opening it?”

“Are you serious?” Shuhei raises a brow.

Aya doesn’t say anything, but she looks at him with an air of seriousness. Her soft aura seems to be absent at the moment.

“...Fine. Just don’t complain if you get a virus on your phone.” He sighs and takes a sip from his coffee cup.

Aya nods, then touches the app with her finger.

\-----------------------------------------------

An odd sight happens in both Shibuya and Bunkyo city. Seven individuals suddenly disappear. Yet, the world moves on as if nothing has happened. As if they never existed.

The individuals only see black before they lose their grasp on their minds. Their bodies. Everything breaks apart, and their pieces trickle down the endless void.


	2. 出会い A/Encounter A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arata, Makoto, Kouki and Ruri find themselves in a forest. No connection. Nothing. What the hell happened, and where are they?

Everything… Everything hurts? No, it’s not pain. It’s a tingly sensation running through each cell that constitutes his body. 

“Mnn...” Arata opens his eyes, realizing that he’s on the ground when he slowly pushes his body off of it. 

He looks around, taking in the environment around him. Large, tropical trees and flowers, lush vines, and dense soil. The air is thick with humidity and warmth. _Where am I…?_ He wonders as he scans from top to bottom, spotting three others sprawled on the ground near him. ... _People!?_

“Are you okay!?” Arata rushes over to the nearest person first, pressing lightly on the side of his neck with his index and middle fingers.

He goes around, checking each person’s pulse. _Good, they all still have a normal pulse._ He lets out a sigh of relief before approaching the man again.

“Excuse me, are you alright?” He nudges the man a bit, stirring him from his unexpected slumber.

“Hrgh…?” Gold eyes stare blankly at Arata’s red eyes for a few moments, then a few blinks brings the guy back to full consciousness.

“Are you alright?” Arata asks again.

“I… Yeah, I’m alright.” Kouki heaves his body upright, scratching his head. “Say, have you seen a girl with silver hair?”

“Is that who you’re looking for?” Arata points to a girl sprawled a meter or two away from them.

“Mako!!” Kouki stumbles as he runs to her, calling her name and shaking her.

From what Arata can see, he assumes they’re siblings. _Ah, siblings sound nice…_ He shakes the thought away and makes his way to the other girl with blue hair. _Oh, she’s the girl from the CD shop!_

“Excuse me, are you okay?” He lightly shakes her until her eyes open.

“...Yeah. I’m okay, I think.” Ruri lifts her torso from the ground and fixes her hair. She looks at Arata and smiles. “Oh hey, you’re the guy from the CD store!”

“Um, yes! Thank you for that before,” he says, shifting his gaze from her with a sheepish smile.

Meanwhile, Makoto wakes up to a distressed Kouki, shaking her repeatedly.

“...Kou-kun.” Her voice shakes along with her upper torso.

“Mako, are you alright? Are you hurting anywhere?” Kouki immediately stops shaking her, though his grip on her is still firm.

“I’m fine, Kou-kun. Are _you_ okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Kouki lets his shoulders relax once confirming his cousin’s safety, then looks up to address the other two. “Are you two alright too?”

“Yes.” Arata nods, followed up with another ‘yes’ from Ruri.

“Anyone know where we are right now? It definitely doesn’t look like Shibuya to me.” Makoto gets up easily with a push of her arms and strides over to where Arata and Ruri are, Kouki following close behind.

Right, they don’t know where they are, and it seems like they’re in the tropics. Arata, having nothing to occupy him anymore, starts to feel panic settle in his mind and heart. Where are they? Why are they here? Can they get back? Can they get home? Cold sweat rolls down the back of his neck as his thoughts whirl in his head.

“No...” Ruri shakes her head, then pulls out her phone. “And there’s no connection.”

“Looks like we’ll have to sort things out as much as we can for now.” Kouki sighs, nodding when he sees that his phone doesn’t have any service as well.

Arata doesn’t understand. How are they talking so calmly right now? Aren’t they afraid? Is he the only one who’s worried? He looks down at his phone in his hands, gripping it tightly.

“In any case, I’d rather we all work together to get out of here.” Makoto looks up from her phone, keeping a watchful gaze on Arata. She continues, a relaxed smile appearing on her face. “So, what are your names?”

The boy, feeling the gaze on him, looks up to meet eyes with her. He shrinks away at her unreadable expression before she shifts to a friendly one.

“I-I’m Arata. Arata Nakajima. I’m 21 years old,” he blabbers, anxiety rising at every heartbeat.

Makoto pushes down the urge to quirk her brow at the mention of his age since she didn’t ask for it, deciding that the boy is dealing with enough at this point. Instead, she nods, then looks to Ruri to continue.

“I’m Ruri Tanizaki. I’m 22.” The girl tucks her hair behind her ear and smiles.

“I’m Kouki Edogawa. I’m 24, and I’m Mako’s older brother.” Kouki brings a hand up and waves a bit with a smile.

“My name’s Makoto Fukuzawa. You guys can just call me Mako. And I’m 23.” Makoto grins.

The names “Ruri” and “Mako” sound familiar to Arata. Where has he heard these names before…?

“Hey Mako, you’re _the_ Mako right? The WeTuber?” Ruri asks, as if to give the boy some answers.

“Oh, heh, you know me?” Makoto twirls her hair and tilts her head.

_!? Mako, the WeTuber!? What--_

“Of course I do. We’ve collabed before.” Now a smug look appears on her face.

“Wha--” The WeTuber shoots the girl a puzzled look, then widens her eyes at the realization. “No. Wait. Are you… Ruri? The singer?”

The girl nods as an answer, and Arata can slowly feel his soul leaving his body. _There’s a WeTuber and a singer I’m a fan of right in front of me, talking_ **_with_ ** _me. I can’t-- I--_

“I--” 

With that, the young man collapses, unable to hear the three panicked and surprised individuals voices calling his name.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

“--ta-kun.”

He hears someone calling out to him. He stirs from his dreamless slumber.

“--rata-kun.”

Who is that? _Who are you?_

“Arata.”

Arata slowly opens his eyes to see a WeTuber, a singer, and a regular man looking at him with concerned looks. Oh god, none of this was a dream. Everything happening right now is reality, as unrealistic as it seems.

“Oh thank god, you woke up.” Makoto shows a small smile out of relief with a hand over her chest.

“You suddenly fainted, Arata-kun. We were really worried.” Kouki looks at him with a similar expression, and Ruri nods furiously.

“How are you feeling?” Makoto asks.

“Better…?” Arata isn’t sure, but he feels like that’s the best answer right now. He certainly feels a bit calmer than before he blacked out.

“Good enough to hear the information we sorted out while you were passed out?”

Makoto’s question makes him pause for a moment. A part of him wants to deny everything and cry out to end this nightmare, while another part already knows he needs to move on and think. Think of a way to get out of here. He sits upright and looks at everyone with a steady gaze, nodding at each person to blow away their concern for him.

“...Yes. Please let me hear it, Mako-san.”

Makoto nods at Kouki and he starts explaining.

“So from what Ruri told us, you two were in the CD shop in Shibuya right before we were ‘transported’. Mako and I were in Shibuya too. The other thing we know is,” he takes his phone out and shows the ume flower app, “that we all have this app on our phones.”

Arata’s eyes widen. So he wasn’t the only one with that weird app.

“Do you all know what that app is for?”

“No,” Makoto answers quickly, following with an explanation of her own and an apology. “But I do know that it’s most likely the reason why we’re here… I’m sorry, I involved all of you by attempting to open the app.”

She looks down, guilt darkening her features.

“N-no, don’t be sorry! It’s not like you knew we were all going to be teleported somewhere.” Arata shakes his head. 

If he was in the same situation as her, with more room for curiosity for the app rather than his urge to make the best of his day off, he probably would have done the same. There was no way he could fault her for that. He glances at Ruri and sees her nodding. She’s probably heard and said something similar to him.

Makoto looks up at him with a small smile of gratitude.

“...Thanks. And I actually haven’t asked Ruri this yet either, but...” Her expression changes to that of a serious one. “Can you two look at the app on your phones and tell me if you feel anything?”

Ruri and Arata look at each other, then to Kouki. The young man looks as serious as his sister is, and that’s enough for the two of them to nod at Makoto’s request. They each take out their phones and look at the app. A few moments go by and they see what the girl is getting at.

Ruri can feel her heart being tugged. _Please come… I need you._ That’s what she hears, clearly, ringing in her head. And despite not knowing who or what is telling her that, she wants to reach out. She quickly looks at Arata.

The boy in question stares at the app, eyes wide. He can hear it. _I need you. Please…_ A voice, a small, terrified voice like that of a child’s, reaching out to him. Pleading for him. _Who are you? Why do you need me?_

“Arata-kun.” A hand covers the screen, breaking his trance. He looks up to see that Makoto is the one that blocked the screen and called his name.

“I-- Someone, someone’s calling for me. They said they ‘need me’,” Arata sputters.

“Yeah. Someone’s calling for me too.” Ruri adds on, nodding frantically.

Makoto looks at her cousin and brings her hand to her mouth. Kouki nods slowly as if to process what Arata had just said. The two silver-haired individuals take out their phones and looks at the app again.

_I’m waiting for you._

_Where are you?_

_Please come…_

_I need you…!_

The words echo in their minds, lingering with a desperate and sad note. They look at each other again, confirming the phenomenon. A few moments pass before Kouki speaks.

“We didn’t hear a specific voice when we were in Shibuya, but it felt like something was calling for us. That was when Mako opened the app. But now… Now we can clearly hear a voice.”

“But the question is,” Makoto voices her thoughts before anyone else can, “who’s calling for us? Is it one person? Is it multiple people? Are we being called by different individuals?”

The four of them fall silent at that. They have no answers, and no idea of where they even are at the moment still. Despite the lack of information, Arata just can’t get that voice out of his head. _I need to help them, whoever it is. I just_ **_need_ ** _to._ He curls his hands that rest on his laps into loose fists.

“...So, what should we do now?” Ruri breaks the silence, fidgeting with the hems of her dress.

A few moments go by with no one speaking or moving. 

“We should probably try to find out where we are right now, if we can. Are all of you able to move?” Kouki suggests, rising to his feet.

Makoto nods and hops up from where she was sitting. She offers a hand to Ruri, who smiles and lets her friend pull her up with a thanks. Then she does the same to Arata. The boy looks up at her for a split second with a hesitant expression before taking her hand. The girl doesn’t miss it, but says nothing and instead offers him a friendly grin and turns around to face her cousin. Arata returns a small smile, though unfortunately, she can’t see it. 

“We probably shouldn’t split since we can’t get in touch with our phones or anything else really.” Makoto stretches her back as she locks her hands behind her head.

Ruri nods, but suddenly tenses.

“Shh. Guys, I hear something.”

The group freezes in place, each person holding their breath. The sound of rustling followed by distant cries can be heard in the distance. Kouki takes the lead and slowly approach where the sound is coming from. The closer they get, the clearer the voices are.

“-p!”

“-o away!”

“-- don’t want to die!”

“Somebody please help!”

Four small creatures are being chased by what seems to be an ogre. Yes, an ogre. It doesn’t look like a costume or some new kind of CG. The weight on each step as it runs, the sound of the bone club it swings, the way its muscles move. Everything is too real. Even the four creatures: . They’re too well made to actually be some future technology for an attraction of some sort.

“Hey, don’t the voices of those creatures sound familiar…?” Ruri asks under her breath.

Her question occupies their mind for a moment, until a desperate cry cuts through the air. The four blobs are cornered at the foot of a hill. The large trees block their small bodies from escape, cornering them. The ogre slows down, as if enjoying the fear in their eyes as they near the end of their life by his own hands.

Panic rushes through the blood of each individual as they see the fate of these defenseless creatures flash before their eyes. Arata, without thinking much, scours the ground for a rock, grabs it, and jumps out of the shrubbery he’s been hiding behind.

“Wh-- Arata-kun!?” Makoto calls out, reaching a hand out.

“Over here, punk!” He yells as he pelts the rock at the ogre.

The stone hits the ogre in the back of its head, earning the boy a glare from it. Cold sweat rolls down Arata’s neck but he stays in place. 

_Fuck! Arata-kun, you’re going to-- No, shit, I gotta think. There’s no way he can take on that thing alone!_ Makoto grits her teeth and digs her nails into her thighs as she thinks. 

“Mako,” Kouki says firmly, then continues when she looks at him with sharp eyes, “go distract the ogre with Arata-kun. While it’s distracted, Ruri and I’ll get the little ones out of there. Don’t. Die.”

He looks to Ruri for confirmation. The girl nods, biting her bottom lip and already inching towards the small creatures.

“Alright, got it.” Makoto allows herself to relax, looks back at Arata and closes her eyes briefly. She takes a deep breath in, then pops out of the forage.

“Hey hey, let me in on this too. Unless, Ogre-san is too weak to take on two people at once?” She struts over to Arata, head held high and smirking at the green-skinned creature, and leans in to whisper. “Arata, are you good at running?”

“...I wouldn’t say I’m too bad at it.” The boy whispers back, still keeping his eyes on the threat.

“Good, get ready to run for your life. And I’m serious, you better not fucking die, buddy.” She shoots him a grin before the ogre cuts their conversation short.

The monster roars and charges at the two, lifting his club above his head. Luckily its movement is slow given his size and weight, allowing Arata and Makoto to run away without much effort. 

“You annoying little…!” The ogre growls, winding its arm back with a fistful of dark flame. 

It throws a punch towards Arata, sending a ball of black, swirling energy. Arata barely dodges it with a yelp and falls to the ground, his phone dropping out of his pocket in the process. The monster takes the chance and charges at the fallen boy with a snarl.

“Arata!” Makoto takes her phone out, winding back to throw it at the ogre in order to get its attention.

“Ah-- Wait!”

“It’s dangerous!”

Kouki and Ruri fret as two of the four critters they’ve managed to save slip out of their arms and run towards the scene.

“Arata, Arata!!” One of them cries out.

“I’m going to help Mako!” The other yells, disappearing into the smoke.

Before Makoto can launch her device, a squeaky, child-like voice cuts through the air.

“Arata!! _Smoky Blow!_ ”

The next moment, thick smoke shrouds the area. Unable to see anything that’s going on, Makoto whips her head around frantically. Where the hell did this smoke come from? What’s the fuck’s happening? 

“ _Chiisana Tetsu Tsubu!_ ” Another high-pitched voice yells from nearby.

A few seconds later, an angry yelp of pain from the ogre echoes through the forest and the veil of smoke lifts to reveal one of the four creatures from before, one that looks like a puff of smoke, floats in front of Arata with his arms stretched out to the sides with a fearful glare at the enemy.

“...Wh-- why do you know my name…?” Arata stares at the small, grey creature with his mouth agape.

“Which little shit attacked me?” The monster bellows again, turning around to face where the small bullets that hit him came from.

Ahead of his view stands (with no legs, mind you) a similarly tiny creature, again one of the four unknown beings, with purple fur and pointy ears. He snarls at the ogre with his sharp, jagged mouth and his fur slowly rises as he tenses.

“Looks like _you_ need a nice beating!” The green monster charges at the small creature, swinging his bone club over his head.

“No--!!” Makoto sprints.

She doesn’t care whether this creature isn’t something normal, or whether she can die by the hands of a monster. That doesn’t matter right now, _nothing_ matters right now. No reason, no nothing. She just _needs_ to save him. The girl makes it right in time to protect the furry being, bringing her arm up as a shield with her phone still in hand.

The app on both Arata and Makoto’s phones react and a mechanical voice speaks from their devices.

“Connection Complete. Partner Approved.”

Suddenly, a blinding light comes from both Makoto’s hand and the ground next to Arata. The ogre lets out a shriek and staggers back, covering its eyes with its arm. 

Makoto looks away, but notices her phone lose its shape and morph into something cylindrical and easier to grip. The light fades and she peeks at her hand, finding a naginata gripped tightly. 

_What. The fuck._ First they find a weird app they can’t remove from their phones, get thrown into an unknown place, then get attacked and find weird creatures, her phone fucking shines like the sun itself, and now her phone becomes a traditional Japanese weapon she likes in video games? _What kind of 2D anime isekai shit is this?_

Contrary to her confused mind, Makoto’s body takes the chance while the ogre is still blinded. She gets up, rushes at the green creature with both hands on her new weapon, and slashes at it. The ogre lets out a scream at the cutting pain on its arm.

The sound of pain jolts Arata from his position on the ground, covering his eyes with a hand. He blinks rapidly, his blurry sight clearing up with each blink, and forces his brain to process the situation in front of him.

_Okay, so Mako-san has a weapon? And she attacked the ogre? What the heck, uh, okay. It’s not okay, but okay. And now the ogre’s attacking her. Oh shit, oh shit… This isn’t good…!_

The ogre recovers from the blow and lunges at Makoto, flailing its weapon and arms at her as she dodges and parries. The continuous advances shave away at her stamina, each blow and swing she manages to escape adding on to the weight of fatigue on her. _Shit, I’m not gonna last much longer…!_ She braces for another blow as the ogre raises its bone club above its head.

While Makoto struggles to defend herself, Arata’s gaze goes down to where his phone was. He doesn’t see his phone, but instead sees a set of bow and arrows laid out next to him. He bites his lip for a brief moment, but quickly grabs the long bow and an arrow, and draws it back in a smooth, calm moment. _I never thought I’d be thankful for my family forcing me to learn kyudo._ After a short, controlled breath, he releases, and the bow shoots right into the ogre’s back.

The painful scream of the ogre and interruption of its assault allows Makoto to recover briefly. She catches her breath as best as she can, pulls her naginata back, and slashes at the monster again with all of her weight. Arata, from the opposite side, draws the bow back with another arrow and quickly releases as the girl swings her weapon down. The blade of the naginata cuts through the ogre just as the tip of the arrow pierces through it. The ogre lets out another scream before glitching and breaking into bits of electronic static, disappearing into the air within a few seconds.

Makoto and Arata stare at the space where the ogre once stood, both panting. 

“Mako! Arata-kun!” Kouki and Ruri run out from the shrubbery they were hiding behind, each holding one of the creatures they saved.

“Kou-kun, Ruri...!” Makoto smiles wearily at them as she slumps to the ground, sliding down using the shaft of the weapon in hand. Once she’s sitting completely on the grass, the weapon morphs back into the shape of her phone. As weird as all of this is, she doesn’t have much energy to freak out over it.

Arata’s bow and arrows do the same. He just nods in response to the other two, grabbing his phone and then crawling towards everyone. Everything is happening too fast for him, both physically and mentally.

“Thank god you guys are alright.” Ruri lets out a sigh of relief, her grip still tight on the white creature in her arms.

Kouki goes to Makoto’s side and kneels down.

“I kept my promise.” The silver-haired woman flashes her teeth at her cousin.

Kouki rolls his eyes, lets out an exasperated sigh, and smiles back. Despite everything that’s happening and the uncertainty that comes with, his cousin knows how to adapt. Maybe it’s because he spent most of his life with her or because it just runs in the blood, but he also feels calm about this situation. 

“And sick skills, Arata! You really saved my life.” The silver-haired girl grins at the younger guy. 

“Oh, it’s uh, nothing much.” Arata looks to the side and scratches the back of his head, his cheeks turning a shade redder. He hasn’t heard a compliment on his kyudo skills in a long while. It… feels nice for once. 

The feeling doesn’t last long, the boy jolting at the sudden appearance of a smoky being right in front of his face. The creature hovers and stares into his eyes curiously.

“Wh-- what are you?” Arata sputters. He would jump back a few meters, but his body is too fatigued to even move at this point.

“I’m Mokumon!” The puff of grey cloud chirps, flipping backwards in the air.

“Pichimon!” The white blob in Ruri’s arms chimes in.

“I’m Relemon.” The calmest voice comes from the yellow blob with a fluffy tail, held securely by Kouki.

“I’m Dorimon!” The purple, legless creature hops onto Makoto’s lap and settles on it.

“And we’re Digimon!” All four creatures sing with confidence.

The humans exchange looks of confusion.

“A what?” Makoto furrows her brows.

“A… Digimon?” Ruri tilts her head.

From the chunks of information the creatures shouted out to answer the question, the four individuals were able to piece it together to get somewhat of an understanding: that Digimon are living entities of the Digital World and that these four little creatures were somehow ‘special’.

“And you guys are ‘special’, in what way?” Kouki asks, rubbing his chin with his fingers.

“Arata, phone! Your phone please!” Mokumon pats the phone that lies in the guy’s hand.

“Ah, okay.” He hands his phone to the digimon after unlocking it.

Mokumon says a cheerful ‘thank you’ and takes it from him. He places it in the center of the group and points to the app.

“This!”

“Mokumon, do you know what this app is?” Arata asks, eyes wide.

Mokumon nods. “Mmhmm! It’s the thing that connects me and you!”

Well that’s certainly an explanation; one that Arata and the other three couldn’t really understand. Not that they really expected an elaborate or clear answer from the little creatures to begin with.

The other digimon gets excited too, yelling out ‘partners!’ and so on as if to make the explanation a little more detailed. 

“...We were waiting for you,” Relemon says quietly.

“Yeah!” Pichimon nods rapidly, bouncing around in Ruri’s arms at every shake of his head.

It’s an odd feeling. Something about being with Relemon feels right to Kouki. Everything is happening so fast, and they know virtually nothing at this point. All they know is that they’re not in Japan anymore, and hell, they’re probably not in their own _world_ at this point. Yet, there is a part of him that is genuinely happy to be united with the digimon.

Ruri looks down at the bundle of excitement wriggling around in her arms with a small, warm smile. She’s always enjoyed the company of children and interacting with them, and the way Pichimon acts is no different from one. And other than that, as Kouki feels with Relemon, it instinctively feels right for her to be with Pichimon.

Just as those feelings form within them, the screens of their phones start to shine brightly. Mechanical voices repeat the same as before.

“Connection Complete. Partner Approved.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been... about 3 or 4 months. Last year of uni's got the best of me, and the situation with the virus is pretty bad. Hopefully once all of my final projects/assignments are submitted and tests are completed, I'll have a bit more time to write.
> 
> Are there errors in this piece? Probably. Do I care? Not too much. I really just want to write fiction and something that I actually enjoy.
> 
> Anyways, hope whoever's reading this is doing well and enjoys this chapter! ^^

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to all of my friends who gave me permission to base some of these characters off of them. You all are awesome ^^ 
> 
> That being said, please keep in mind that I did use you all as a model but have added/made changes to each character's personality and background. These changes were made to 1) differentiate them from you guys and 2) to have them become characters with stories that will fit and develop in the story as I have planned for. Therefore, they are NOT the same as you, nor do I write thinking that they are. Please keep that in mind, and hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing it!


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